New APL vessel joins All Water Service to US

APL’s newest vessel, the APL Virginia, was launched recently in Shanghai by Mrs. Sarah Randt, wife of US Ambassador to China, Clark T Randt JR. The vessel is now on its maiden voyage across the Pacific to the US East Coast.

At the special ceremony attended by Guest of Honour Ambassador Randt and senior Chinese officials, including Vice Chairman, Municipal People’s Congress, Standing Committee, Shanghai Municipality Mr Zhang Sheng Kun, as well as APL customers, APL’s CEO Ron Widdows said, “Today, many of our customers’ products are made or sourced here in China but their final destinations are often thousands of miles away in the US or Europe. The APL Virginia will be one of the many links in the chain that joins these markets and facilitates world trade. ”

Mr Widdows said APL’s connection with China began when its ancestor company began plying the trade between San Francisco and Shanghai in the 19th century. Today, APL has 40 offices serving customers in all the major regions in China, and a staff there of more than 900.

The APL Virginia has joined her sister ship, the APL New York, on the New York Express (NYX) service, an all-water trans-Pacific service via the Panama Canal. With a maximum speed of 25 knots and a nominal capacity of more than 5000 TEUs, the vessel provides customers with increased capacity and some of the fastest sailing times between Asia and the US East Coast..

The APL Virgina will make her first port call at her namesake US state on July 9.